Kenyan court sentences starvation cult leader to 200 years in prison

A Kenyan court has sentenced self-proclaimed pastor and cult leader Paul Mackenzie to 200 years in prison for his role in the deaths of 191 people, including 190 children, in one of the country’s deadliest cult-related tragedies.Justice Diana Kavedza of the Mombasa High Court announced the sentence on Friday, comprising 100 years for murder by starvation and another 100 years for direct homicide.

The court found that the victims were starved to death on Mr Mackenzie’s instructions before their bodies were buried in the Shakahola Forest in southeastern Kenya.Twenty-eight accomplices convicted alongside him last month were also handed various prison sentences.Mr Mackenzie founded the Good News International Church, through which he organised a doomsday sect that instructed followers to starve themselves and their children to death in preparation for the end of the world and their supposed passage to heaven to meet Jesus.

His accomplices reportedly threatened and assaulted members who refused to comply with the instructions.Mr Mackenzie, who appeared in court wearing a grey polo shirt and black trousers, smiled as he entered a tent erected outside the court for the sentencing proceedings.He had denied the murder charges, insisting that he did not force anyone to starve.

However, the court rejected his defence and found him guilty.Shakahola Forest massacreThe case came to light in 2023 after police arrested Mr Mackenzie following a tip-off about activities at the religious community.

Subsequent investigations led authorities to the Shakahola Forest, where they began uncovering bodies buried in shallow graves. Some victims were found dumped in latrines, while others had reportedly been buried alive.

More than 400 people died in the tragedy, according to Kenyan authorities, making it one of the country’s deadliest cases of mass deaths linked to a religious group.The scale of the killings has drawn comparisons with the 2000 massacre involving a doomsday cult in Uganda, where more than 700 people died, and the 1978 Jonestown massacre in Guyana, where more than 900 people died after being ordered to consume poison by American cult leader Jim Jones.

Investigations into the Shakahola deaths uncovered mass graves and evidence of severe malnutrition, prompting nationwide scrutiny of religious extremism and the authorities’ failure to identify and stop the group’s activities earlier.

The revelations also triggered calls for stricter government regulation of religious organisations.It emerged during investigations that Mr Mackenzie had previously been arrested twice but was released before the Shakahola tragedy came to light.

The sentencing marks a major development in a case that exposed the dangers of unchecked religious extremism and raised questions about the oversight of religious institutions in Kenya.